Sunday, September 10, 2006
Hokies have Ore and wait for more
Aaron McFarling
Recent columns
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. --New rule: Branden Ore doesn't have to go to class. After all, sidewalks can be slippery.
Virginia Tech simply can't risk it.
Other than attending practice and games, Ore must remain at home. No using scissors. No knives. He may watch TV from the couch, but only if he is wearing three layers of bubble wrap and a helmet.
Sorry if this sounds overly restrictive, but you want to win, don't you?
Right now, Ore is not merely an important part of Tech's offense. He IS Tech's offense.
And it is scary.
The Hokies had four offensive touchdowns in Saturday's 35-10 win over North Carolina. Ore scored three of them. The other was in garbage time.
The Hokies had 224 yards of total offense. Ore accounted for 143 of them. Almost all of the rest were in garbage time.
What does this mean? That Ore is a fantastic talent? That he can take over a game? That he's finally getting to show what he can do?
Well, sure. But it also means Tech is one injury away from being in a whole lot of trouble. And Billy Hite, for one, doesn't like it.
"It bothers me," said Hite, Tech's longtime running backs coach. "I didn't want Branden to play as much in a row as he did today. He just played way too much to me today."
But what choice did he have? One backup, Elan Lewis, is still trying to work his way back from eating himself out of the rotation. The other, George Bell, fumbled on his third -- and final -- carry of the game.
This isn't to say Lewis and Bell are bad backs. But they are injured ones. Lewis is still wearing a knee brace following offseason surgery. Bell has torn just about every ligament a guy can tear in his knee, and he's coming off surgery, too.
So it leaves Hite in a position he's never been at Tech -- heading into the third game of the season having no clue who his backup is. And at Tech, where a two-back system is the MO, this isn't a minor problem.
"I wouldn't want to do it with one," Hite said. "The last time I did that, it was the all-time leading rusher in Virginia Tech history, Cyrus Lawrence, and I really felt like I cost him a pro career because we ran him to death in college. We didn't give him a chance to get to that next level.
"My philosophy changed as a young coach back then, and that's [25] years ago."
Lately, there's been a natural progression of duos. Suggs and Jones. Jones and Humes. Humes and Imoh.
Ore and ... Harris?
Don't rule it out. If Lewis and Bell don't make significant progress in the coming weeks, Hite could try to pluck uber-athlete Macho Harris from the defensive backfield. But considering Harris is a starting cornerback, that might be a knife-plus-nose equals spited-face equation.
Another option? Receiver Josh Morgan. Clearly, Hite has been day-dreaming about the possibilities with him in the backfield. And with plenty of depth available at the receiver position, that seems like a viable experiment, if it comes to that.
"We'll get somebody in there, I'll guarantee you," Hite said. "I've got to get somebody ready in the next week or two, to be able to make it so [Ore] can got that whole year."
Ore, as you might expect, does not mind the extra carries. Common sense says he could break Jones' single-season rushing record of 1,647 yards if this keeps up.
"I'm all for it," Ore said. "I'm ready for the challenge. I'll take my team on my back every week if that's what I have to do."
Fine, fine.
But he'd better not leave here without his bubble wrap.
